2015 Chevy Spark EV specifications

[sparkyps]

Any solid information on when the 2015's will be available?

 

[nozferatu]

Any solid information on when the 2015's will be available?

Given how auto makers release their vehicles I'd say late 2014...Sept/Oct maybe?

 

[tigger19687]

Any solid information on when the 2015's will be available?

http://eogld.cloud.gm.com/dmdindex.htm

Go here and you can see what they are listing for "late model year". This web site will not let me copy/paste the long listing.
They are bringing Salsa and Lime

 

[Chocula]

Faster 0 - 60 time of 7.2 seconds with less torque at 327 lbs / foot according to Chevrolet's website. I did not see any horse power ratings, but these numbers are probably due to the gear ratio change. The smaller battery pack may not be able to drive the motor as hard, be lower voltage, or limited to prevent excessive power consumption. Its also possible they are using a different motor, but that seems less likely.

 

[nozferatu]

Faster 0 - 60 time of 7.2 seconds with less torque at 327 lbs / foot according to Chevrolet's website. I did not see any horse power ratings, but these numbers are probably due to the gear ratio change. The smaller battery pack may not be able to drive the motor as hard, be lower voltage, or limited to prevent excessive power consumption. Its also possible they are using a different motor, but that seems less likely.

I personally think our cars are already low 7 second cars. Better tires and less retarding of torque low down/off the line would even make them quicker. What I'd be disappointed with is the mid-range acceleration being less in the newer cars. Meaning...this current car hauls a%% from 25 on. I mean serious hauling. I've embarrassed some seriously quick cars to 75MPH.

And it keeps pulling well into top speed limiting.

The best way I've found to accelerate rapidly in this car off the line is to do partial throttle to about 10 MPH and then swiftly but smoothly apply 80-100% throttle there after. Slamming the pedal hurts performance. At certain speeds this thing is so rapid on pick up that its quite startling. Hope the new car doesn't lose this edge.

 

[sv650john]

Hoping someone who knows the math can answer this for me.

I'm planning on getting a Spark EV but I occasionally have to drive from SD to LA (100 miles each way) all freeway, with a quick charge before I head back.

Should I get a 2014 now or wait for the 2015?

Which one would be better for an all-freeway run?
I understand the 2015 will have a smaller battery but the gearing is shorter(?) so I think the efficiency on the freeway might be improved(?) yielding more range or do I have that around the wrong way?

 

[Nashco]

GM claims so far have said the range remains the same despite the vehicle changes (gearing, battery capacity, weight, tuning). Nobody has been able to test a 2015 yet to see how it fares in a real world test, so the jury is still out on that. If you think absolute maximum range is your highest priority, I would say you can't make any assumptions without seeing some actual test data...but once a 2015 is out and can be tested, that means any new 2014s are all gone!!!

Bryce

 

[sv650john]

GM claims so far have said the range remains the same despite the vehicle changes (gearing, battery capacity, weight, tuning). Nobody has been able to test a 2015 yet to see how it fares in a real world test, so the jury is still out on that. If you think absolute maximum range is your highest priority, I would say you can't make any assumptions without seeing some actual test data...but once a 2015 is out and can be tested, that means any new 2014s are all gone!!!

Bryce

That's the dilemma I'm facing... there isn't any real data on whether the 2015 will offer any improvements.

Also I think the EPA range is based on 55mph "freeway" which doesn't translate to the real world 80+mph freeway speeds.

Just a guess, but I get the feeling that the GM engineers figured out how to make the Spark more efficient, and if they had stuck to the original 21kw battery they'd have a 100 mile range. But the beancounters decided to keep it at the same specs and instead save the money by putting in a cheaper battery.

 

[kevin]

...

Also I think the EPA range is based on 55mph "freeway" which doesn't translate to the real world 80+mph freeway speeds.

Just a guess, but I get the feeling that the GM engineers figured out how to make the Spark more efficient, and if they had stuck to the original 21kw battery they'd have a 100 mile range. But the beancounters decided to keep it at the same specs and instead save the money by putting in a cheaper battery.[/quote]

The 2014 have about 18.8kWh of usable capacity. The only spec I have seen for the 2015 is that it is "19kWh". Since the range is the same it is quite probable that the usable capacity is the same.

kevin

 

[nmikmik]

Hoping someone who knows the math can answer this for me.

I'm planning on getting a Spark EV but I occasionally have to drive from SD to LA (100 miles each way) all freeway, with a quick charge before I head back.

Should I get a 2014 now or wait for the 2015?

Which one would be better for an all-freeway run?
I understand the 2015 will have a smaller battery but the gearing is shorter(?) so I think the efficiency on the freeway might be improved(?) yielding more range or do I have that around the wrong way?

It probably depends on how occasional is your LA trip. Couple of times a year, I'd take the Surfliner and figure out from there, couple of times a month - the 2014 or 2015 is not gonna save you I am afraid. If this is one and only car you have in your household, the long trips would become too much of the range anxiety especially if you are planing on keeping with the fast lane traffic... You could quick charge in Irvine, but it still takes time and availability of the charger is not guaranteed

 

[sv650john]

It probably depends on how occasional is your LA trip. Couple of times a year, I'd take the Surfliner and figure out from there, couple of times a month - the 2014 or 2015 is not gonna save you I am afraid. If this is one and only car you have in your household, the long trips would become too much of the range anxiety especially if you are planing on keeping with the fast lane traffic... You could quick charge in Irvine, but it still takes time and availability of the charger is not guaranteed

I make the trip a couple times a month and I've considered the Surfliner. Only problem with that is there's no connections on the LA side, and my destination is actually in the Inland Empire nowhere close to any decent public transport. The trip takes about 6 hrs total according to google maps.

Just thinking out loud here - but if I could drive to the train station in SD, take the Surfliner to Anaheim and IF there was a Zipcar (or similar) type of setup at Anaheim station where I could pick up a Spark EV for the day that would pretty much solve the range / connection problem. When I'm done with it I'll just park it back at the train station, plug it in and take the train home.

Imagine this multiplying to train stations, airports, ship terminals (navy base in SD where 5000 guys get off an aircraft carrier and have no way to get around?).
Imagine if GM funded a startup company to do this - and then leased them hundreds of Spark EV's for the operation, thus accruing the CARB ZEV credits they so desperately need. They wouldn't even need to make money on renting the cars out, they'd break even immediately by not having to buy CARB credits from Tesla et al.

Are you listening GM?

 

[nj1266]

So chevy reduced the torque and upped the numerical gear ratio on the car for 2015. Wouldn't that end up giving the same or similar acceleration numbers to the 2014? Is there a way to determine mathematical acceleration numbers out of the weight, gear ratio, and torque for each model year?

 

[Sparkler]

So chevy reduced the torque and upped the numerical gear ratio on the car for 2015. Wouldn't that end up giving the same or similar acceleration numbers to the 2014? Is there a way to determine mathematical acceleration numbers out of the weight, gear ratio, and torque for each model year?

The torque at the axle works out to almost the same, about 2.5 Pound-Feet less on the 2015. Couple that with 86 Lb. less battery weight...

 

[Nashco]

So what happens if you use the 400 ft lb torque output of the motor with the 3.8 planetary ratio? :twisted:

Bryce

 

[nozferatu]

So what happens if you use the 400 ft lb torque output of the motor with the 3.8 planetary ratio? :twisted:

Bryce

Insanity!

That would be so fun.

I would like to see better acceleration after 60 though. Can't wait to see a gearbox that can actually switch the torque curve for the motor somehow...it'll happen sooner or later.

 

[kevin]

So what happens if you use the 400 ft lb torque output of the motor with the 3.8 planetary ratio? :twisted:

Bryce

Insanity!

That would be so fun.

I would like to see better acceleration after 60 though. Can't wait to see a gearbox that can actually switch the torque curve for the motor somehow...it'll happen sooner or later.

Above 40mph it's probably not the motor that is limiting things but the output of the battery. The motor is operating in constant power mode at that point.

kevin

 

[nozferatu]

So what happens if you use the 400 ft lb torque output of the motor with the 3.8 planetary ratio? :twisted:

Bryce

Insanity!

That would be so fun.

I would like to see better acceleration after 60 though. Can't wait to see a gearbox that can actually switch the torque curve for the motor somehow...it'll happen sooner or later.

Above 40mph it's probably not the motor that is limiting things but the output of the battery. The motor is operating in constant power mode at that point.

kevin

constant power mode? What do you mean?

 

[kevin]

...
constant power mode? What do you mean?

It is common for electric motor systems such as on the Spark EV to have multiple limitations to the torque that can be delivered at any one moment. Typically at low speeds the current allowed through the motor windings or the inverter is the limit. Since the torque is proportional to motor current this limit sets the maximum amount of torque that is available. The actual power output will be proportional to RPM as speed increases, at about 40mph this power will hit the second limit which is the power available from the battery. From that point upwards the system will be in constant power mode with the current (and hence torque) dropping as speed increases.

In spite of the various arguments that torque is what is required to accelerate the real limit is the ability to transform the energy from the battery into kinetic energy in the car. The gearing that works best for that will be the ratio that keeps motor in the power limited regime the longest - the 3.87 ratio is probably better for acceleration although for some reason GM reduced the peak torque so the thrust on the vehicle is virtually equal.

The presentation “2014 Chevrolet Spark EV Propulsion System by Steven Tarnowsky” has a lot of useful information about this - I can't found a link for it currently but it is available.

kevin

 

[Nashco]

The presentation “2014 Chevrolet Spark EV Propulsion System by Steven Tarnowsky” has a lot of useful information about this - I can't found a link for it currently but it is available.

kevin

It's on page 2 of this thread!

This is interesting as well:

http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3472&start=10

Bryce

 

[nozferatu]

So has anyone driven the new Spark EV? Any quicker?

Had an interesting encounter tonight myself...this car puts a smile on my face everytime I smoke a car 3 times the price or more.

Sadly, the off line performance is lacking however.